Friday, June 13, 2014

Restored Whaling ship raises sail once again

The Charles W. Morgan puts to sea under sail for the first time in nearly a century:
“The ship exceeded all expectations and performed wonderfully. She is faster than we thought she would be, she turns easier, and she handles really well. We could not be more pleased,” said Capt. Kip Files, the 22nd master of the Morgan. “There is no one alive today who has sailed one of these whaleships who can tell us how they perform, so we really learned a lot today. We have a great voyage ahead of us.”

The National Historic Landmark vessel has been a static exhibit at Mystic Seaport since 1941 and has not sailed since the early 1920s.
We visited her in Mystic seaport back in 2009, and the restoration work had been under way for quite some time even back then.  This has been a labor of love, but the result is magnificent:


Not much beats a full rigged sailing ship for nostalgia.



Hat tip: Comrade Misfit

3 comments:

Dirk said...

Beautiful.

Chickenmom said...

I agree! Thanks for the song, too. My Dad used to sing and whistle sea shanty songs all the time. I miss hearing them.

Crapgame said...

Excellent -- I live in CT, and I've been on the Charles W. Morgan a half dozen times over the years. It's nice to see her seaworthy again.